Article excerpt

In six exciting and informative chapters, Kostigen covers many extreme weather situations in potentially life-changing ways for young and middle grades readers. He starts by explaining in clear and simple terms aspects of climate change that seem to baffle some adults. First, he distinguishes between "climate" and "weather." Then, he notes that as global temperatures rise, weather patterns shift, including changes in rain and wind patterns, and that this can result in some areas getting colder as the overall planet warms.

Kostigen offers readers scientifically supported explanations and includes short introductions to the history and significance of the event in focus, but his emphasis is mainly on the immediately practical: helping young people "understand why the weather is changing and what [they] can do to prepare for it" (p. …